Doggone Power: A Story about Dogs and Dominance

Chloe Sundermier in her most submissive pose.

Cute and cuddly and lusting for power. Though it might seem endearing when dogs fight for their owner’s attention, dominance can sometimes be a dangerous thing. The approach to handling it has been a source of controversy, resulting in a struggle between supporters of negative reinforcement training and positive reinforcement training. While many dog lovers believe that a firm hand is the best medicine for a dog with dominance issues, others think that this approach is actually harmful to dogs and prefer friendlier training tactics. This audio story features four different people who have experience training and owning dogs to get a closer look at how dogs show dominance and the best ways to handle these power hungry canines.